Kreutz turned down ultimatum

GM calls it 'very disappointing'

July 31, 2011|By Brad Biggs, Tribune reporter

BOURBONNAIS -- Jerry Angelo called it "very disappointing" that the Chicago Bears were not able to re-sign six-time Pro Bowl center Olin Kreutz on Sunday, and the general manager admitted what the Tribune already reported -- it came down to $500,000.

The Bears gave Kreutz a take-it-or-else ultimatum on Saturday when they offered him a $4 million, one-year contract, and he didn't budge from his demand for $4.5 million -- a figure that split the difference between the $3 million in cash he made last year and the $5.8 million his last contract averaged on an annual basis.

“It goes beyond ($500,000),” Angelo said. “There’s more to it than just the dollar signs. It’s a big puzzle and you just can’t focus on one piece. It doesn’t work that way. It has to come together and we have a lot of things happening at a very fast pace. We didn’t have two months to draw things out, to be patient. We have to move now.”

Angelo asserts the Bears were forced to move on when other teams began expressing interest in Chris Spencer, the free agent from the Seattle Seahawks that agreed to a two-year contract, on Saturday morning. Kreutz’s camp claims the Bears told them nothing had to be done before Thursday -- the first day free agents are allowed to practice, even if they re-sign with their previous employer.

Coach Lovie Smith spoke glowingly about Kreutz all offseason and said Friday night when camp opened how important Kreutz was to the team. Offensive coordinator Mike Martz and line coach Mike Tice have also spoken glowingly of him, so it’s only natural to wonder if the loss of Kreutz over a small amount of money in the world of an NFL salary cap is creating a divide between the front office and coaching staff. Angelo bristled at the very question.

“I resent the fact that something was written that said there is a divide,” Angelo said. “Regardless of what anybody says, that’s not true. That’s a lie and it’s fabricated and I resented that when I read that. That to me was dirty pool. We talk about everything. Do we agree on everything? Absolutely not. You don’t agree on everything with your wife. How I’m going to agree with 18 coaches and 15 scouts? It doesn’t work that way.

"But at the end of the day, we’ve got to make a decision and we all agree on one thing, once we make a decision, we’re all for it. We’re going to make it work. That’s what teams do. So we talk through it. Very difficult. Things were said. We weighed them. We did the best. We had an offer. We bumped our offer. We did the very best we could. So now we’re going to just let t he chips fall where they may and we’re going to move forward.

“Certainly very, very disappointing that he chose not to accept our final offer. His decision, he thought about it, we did the best we can do given that we had a lot to do and felt that we gave him a fair offer, he chose to go in another direction. I told him if he thought long and hard on it, and I know he did, I was hoping that he may change his mind.”